Royal Oak nurse puts suburban bike routes on the map

Beaumont Hospital nurse Matt Faraday helped turn his workplace into a bike-friendly business recognized last month by The League of American Bicyclists for its covered racks, showers for cyclists and lend-a-bike program.

Now he is putting southeast Oakland County on the map.

To get more people to pedal for the health of it, the 32-year-old Royal Oak resident rode and rated streets from Big Beaver in Troy to Northend in Oak Park and Covington in Birmingham to Herbert in Madison Heights for a new guide to popular places.

The map points the way to 26 locations that have picnic areas, playgrounds and walking trails, including the Hidden River Nature Preserve in Beverly Hills and many city parks and community centers. However, Faraday said he hopes more people realize all the great stops in between.

“The whole idea is to create a destination for people and a safe way to get there,” said Faraday, whose routes were designed into a map by Oakland County. “I hope more people ride their bike to get a cup of coffee, pick up something at the grocery store, or go to the zoo or Somerset.”

The map was unveiled Friday – National Bike to Work Day – at Beaumont, which printed 19,000 copies to be given away at county parks, stores, bike shops, city halls and libraries.

About 50 of Beaumont’s 10,000 employees at the Royal Oak campus ride their bikes to work in the spring and summer. Faraday and some others do it all year. It takes him about 15 minutes to make the three-mile ride, just slightly more than 10 minutes to drive and deal with stop lights and finding a parking space.

Faraday and other avid bikers say they feel the physical and mental health benefits regardless of the length of their cycling commutes.

“I get 40 minutes of brainless exercise and I really enjoy it. I feel better when I ride,” said Bob Murray, an anesthesiologist who bikes 20 minutes each way from Pleasant Ridge. “I cycled to college and med school. I’ve been doing it for 20 years. I’m not obsessed but I am out there unless there’s 5 inches of snow and the streets haven’t been plowed.”

Shane Cerone, a Beaumont administrator, puts his suit coat in a bike bag and pedals to his hospital office in a shirt and tie when the weather is nice.

“It’s not my main work out but it’s still being active and it makes a difference, especially mentally,” he said. “I’m not distracted by electronics. It’s a time to think and decompress.”

Three times a week, Vickie Hollingsworth Schuler of Rochester Hills bikes 13 miles each way from her home near Avon and Crooks roads to Beaumont. There’s a sidewalk along Crooks all the way from her subdivision to work.

“The biggest challenges in the morning are the skunks and deer,” she said. “The way home is trickier with all the drivers. I have to be prepared to stop a lot but by the time I get home, I’ve got my workout in.”

Faraday came up with a color-coded system to designate streets as high, medium and low comfort zones. High comfort means low traffic volumes and speeds and possibly marked bike lanes or signs that remind drivers they are sharing the road.

Every street in Huntington Woods could be shaded green as a “high comfort road,” said Cullen Watkins of Royal Oak, who runs racing programs for Wolverine Sports and represents American Cycle and Fitness products.

“Huntington Woods is a great place to bike,” said Watkins, who logs 12,000 miles a year. “You’ve got a good-size loop there and you don’t have to cross main roads.”

In addition to getting fit, saving gasoline, and being green, bicycling is fun, he added.

“There’s a big social aspect to it,” Watkins said. “There’s a huge, huge community and multiple groups with 20-50 riders. They work out and meet up for a burger afterward.”